Chapter 2 - THE FIRST TEST
Nathan arrived at the hospital at 6:42.
He was already sitting in the waiting room when Emma walked in.
No suit.
No assistant.
No phone in his hand.
Just jeans, a dark sweater, and the faded blue scarf she had sent back with him the night before.
Emma stopped when she saw it.
Nathan stood.
“I wasn’t sure if this counted as an invitation.”
“It did.”
He looked relieved.
“What did the doctor say?”
“Nothing yet.”
They were called back twenty minutes later.
Nathan remained half a step behind Emma.
The doctor explained that Emma’s blood pressure had climbed.
Protein had appeared in her urine.
Her pregnancy was entering territory that required closer monitoring.
Nathan listened without interrupting.
That alone surprised Emma.
“When would you deliver?” Nathan finally asked.
The doctor looked at Emma before answering him.
“If her numbers worsen, sooner than planned.”
“How much sooner?”
“Potentially very soon.”
Nathan went pale.
Emma stared at the ultrasound monitor while the technician checked the baby.
Heartbeat.
Movement.
Blood flow.
Everything looked reassuring.
For now.
When they left the hospital, Nathan’s phone began vibrating.
He glanced at the screen.
Emma saw the name.
Daniel Mercer — Board Chair.
Nathan silenced it.
The phone rang again.
He silenced it again.
“You can answer.”
“No.”
“Nathan.”
“I’m here.”
Emma’s expression tightened.
“That’s not what I asked.”
He understood immediately.
She did not want him proving change through dramatic sacrifice.
She wanted him to make responsible choices.
Nathan answered.
“Daniel.”
A voice exploded through the phone loudly enough that Emma could hear fragments.
Emergency.
Singapore.
Acquisition.
Board vote.
Nathan listened.
Then he said calmly, “Move the meeting.”
Another burst of angry words.
Nathan looked at Emma.
“No.”
He walked several steps away.
“I said move it.”
More silence.
“I have a medical appointment with my wife.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
Nathan caught himself.
“With Emma.”
A pause.
“My family situation is not relevant to the transaction.”
Another pause.
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“I am not flying to New York today.”
He ended the call.
Emma stared at him.
“That deal is worth how much?”
“Enough.”
“How much?”
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck.
“About four hundred million.”
Emma almost laughed.
“You just postponed a four-hundred-million-dollar meeting?”
“I postponed a meeting.”
“For me.”
“For my daughter.”
Emma looked away.
“That still scares me.”
Nathan frowned.
“What does?”
“You used to choose work every time.”
She looked back at him.
“I don’t want you becoming a different kind of extreme just to prove something.”
Nathan was silent.
Emma continued.
“I don’t need a man who abandons everything for me.”
“I needed a husband who knew I was one of the things worth showing up for.”
Nathan’s face softened with pain.
“I’m learning the difference.”
A black SUV turned into the hospital parking lot.
Emma barely noticed it.
Nathan did.
His body stiffened.
The back door opened.
A man with a camera stepped out.
Then another.
Then a woman holding a microphone.
Nathan moved between them and Emma immediately.
“What the hell?”
The first photographer raised his camera.
“Mr. Whitmore!”
Flash.
“Is it true your wife disappeared after discovering your affair?”
Emma stopped breathing.
Another flash.
“Mrs. Whitmore, is the baby Nathan’s?”
Nathan’s face changed.
The quiet man from the bookstore vanished.
The CEO returned.
Except this time his anger was not protecting a company.
It was protecting Emma.
“Put the cameras down.”
The reporter pushed closer.
“Did Olivia Grant confirm the relationship?”
Emma looked at Nathan.
May you like
One name filled the space between them.
Olivia.
